Jeff Inlo - Pure Choice

Ryson found the monster's appearance beyond troubling.

"How did he get here?" The delver glanced toward Enin as he looked for an explanation. "I thought he couldn't open portals to this realm."

"He can't, and he didn't." Enin explained. "Ansas ultimately did this all to himself. He brought Baannat's magic into this existence and that's what allowed the portal to open."

"So you understand," Baannat nodded to the wizard. "I am impressed."

"It was Dzeb who saw it first," the wizard acknowledged. "The energy inside of Ansas wasn't ebony magic, it wasn't pure, it wasn't even energy of this existence. His misguided quest for purity and perfection led him to the strands of energy that actually defied existence."

"Strands from my realm," Baannat hissed.

"Apparently so," Enin agreed. "Ansas believed himself superior to all things. He shut out the truth, and you replaced his ebony magic with the energy of your shadowed existence."

"Me? Do not place the blame where it does not belong. I could not have done so by myself. You know that. He put the wheels in motion. He kept reaching for more, and in doing so, he kept opening windows to my domain. He fed himself with pride, and his conceit led him beyond the truth. He ignored every sign, came up with an abundance of justifications for what he disregarded. He convinced himself of his own greatness even as I let him feed on the shadows of empty magic."

"Empty magic?" Ryson questioned. "That's not possible. He was able to fly."

"Are you suddenly an expert on magic, delver?" Baannat chided. "Ansas was always a powerful sorcerer with black magic. He could pull ebony energy from the very air to assist him in certain spells, but the magic at his core was the source of his power. When it began to dwindle from his use, it was replaced with magic that would not truly serve him as he wished. The spells he used to capture and fight the elves of Dark Spruce was very near the last of his own ebony energy. The energy within him after that was mostly from a hollow existence, my realm. In some ways, he could use it to manipulate the dark realm, but it did not completely bend to his will as he imagined. The magic also appeared to be incapable of harming you in any significant way. Shame."

"The magic of emptiness can harm no soul touched by Godson," Dzeb replied serenely.

The slink ghoul snarled at the comment, but could not argue the contention.

"What about the magic placed in the spell casters he tried to strengthen?" Enin wondered aloud.

"A combination of his magic and mine; a small remnant of his original energy that allowed those fools to tap deeper into their own cores and kept them all connected. It gave them greater power, but it was never truly theirs to control. They thought they were stronger, and in some ways they were, but not where it really mattered."

"So that's why I was unable to grasp the magic," Jure added. "It was tainted by energy from your realm. And that's why we were unable to trace it back to you… because there was enough of Ansas' black magic to conceal its source. The spells were linked back to the sorcerer, but the magic of your realm was always hidden underneath."

"But how did that portal open for him to get here?" Ryson demanded. "I thought he was trapped in his own realm."

"Is it so difficult for you to understand, delver? The sorcerer brought my magic into this realm. That allows for a door to be opened… only temporarily, but I can enter this realm to take what is rightfully mine. The sorcerer belongs to me now. It was his actions that led to this. He tried to kill you with magic that could not touch you," Baannat scornfully but reluctantly admitted. "When the spell failed to kill you, the game was over."

Ryson had nothing but disdain for the sorcerer, but he also did not trust the slink ghoul.

"Is that what this all was? Some kind of game to you?"

"Everything is a game to me now."

"What in Godson does that mean?"

The slink ghoul sneered at the delver.

"It means I can only do so much," Baannat growled. "There was a time I could have plucked Ansas from his own sanctuary and used him as I wished, but that is no longer possible. My participation is limited, so why should it be anything more than a game? The sorcerer placed himself above all things. He believed he was evolving into a god, he will discover he has not."

"And where does this all ultimately lead?" Enin asked.

"I intend to reclaim what is mine. The energy he fed upon belongs to my realm, and now so does he. I was hoping the delver would kill him. That would have made things easier. Another shame. What happens now is not his destiny… or the result of my intervention. It was his choice. You can not argue with me, can you Enin? You above all understand. You know why my realm was created. There was a higher purpose."

"Yes, that purpose was to hold abominations like yourself. It was never meant to feed the ignorant desires of misguided individuals."

"How it is used is not up to you… or me. The sorcerer became obsessed with proving his own superiority. He ignored the truth, blinded himself to it and then tried to influence others to accept his narrow views on ascension and superiority. He willingly reached into my realm and took what he should have never touched. Now he will pay the price. This is no surprise."

"The only surprise is that you're not calling me brother."

"We are no longer brothers."

"We never were," Enin stated flatly.

Baannat, unwilling to argue his connection to the wizard, dismissed the conversation. The slink ghoul pointed to the spell casters that remained unconscious. They did not wake, but the three previous allies to Ansas rose to their feet. Moving not by their own will but by the influence of the ghoul, they took hold of the sorcerer.

Ansas screamed when they picked him up. He struggled against them, but each thrash of resistance reminded him of his broken bones. He could not break free, and as he saw he was brought to the very maw of the portal, his eyes widened in absolute terror.

"Why was it all taken from me?!" Ansas shrieked..

"Why? You think it was yours?! You were wrong."

The three spell casters tossed Ansas into the portal and then immediately collapsed, their assistance no longer needed by the slink ghoul. Neltus, Rivira, and Gnafil crumpled back into unconscious heaps.

Ansas shrieked once more as he entered the portal. His body, however, went limp as it passed through the shadowy mass and ended up back on the barren plateau. There was no movement, barely a sign of life.

Ryson moved carefully to the prone form. He checked Ansas over quickly.

"He's still alive."

"That's why I would have preferred it if you killed him," Baannat snarled. "This makes it so much more complicated. His body can't exist in my realm, but I am unable to kill him. But in the end, it is irrelevant. He is still mine and I will not wait."

"So he's just going to stay here… alive… forever?" the delver asked.

"His true being is already in my realm. That is nothing but his shell. Nothing can reach it here and the small amount of magic still in his body will probably keep him alive for eons."

"What about the others?"

"They were his lackeys not mine. What do I care what happens to them? Do with them what you wish. There is no reason for me to stay. The sorcerer's spirit is waiting for me and I have so many things to show him."

Baannat released a cackle unsettling for them all to hear and then disappeared through the portal. The dark gray mass, however, lingered in its place.

Unwilling to allow the portal to remain-to allow Baannat an open invitation to enter the dark realm in the future-Ryson knew he had to destroy it. He could not cast a spell to disperse the magic, but he also knew the energy that created the rift belonged in Baannat's realm. It was an echo of emptiness and the delver intended to fill it with his own purpose.